The Energy Information Administration released its weekly report on the condition of petroleum inventories in the United States today.

Here are some highlights:

CRUDE INVENTORIES:Crude oil inventories increased by 2.8 million barrels to a total of 365.2 million barrels. At 365.2 million barrels, inventories are 5.9 million barrels above last year (1.6%) and are above the upper limit of the average range.

GASOLINE INVENTORIES:Gasoline inventories decreased by 4.3 million barrels to 217.6 million barrels. At 217.6 million barrels, inventories are up 8.0 million barrels, or 3.8% more than last year. Here's how individual regions and their gasoline inventory fared last week: East Coast (-2.0mb); Midwest (-1.1mb); Gulf Coast (-1.3mb); Rockies (-0.1mb); and West Coast (+0.1mb). It is important to note which regions saw increases/decreases as this information likely drives prices up (in the case of falling inventories), or down (in the case of rising inventories).

DISTILLATE (diesel, heating oil) INVENTORIES:Distillate inventories decreased by 4.0 million barrels to a total of 131.9 million barrels. At 131.9 million barrels, inventories are now 12.6% lower than a year ago. Total distillate inventories stand 19.0 million barrels lower than their year ago level.

REFINERY OUTPUT/UTILIZATION:Refinery utilization stood at 83.8%, a drop of 1.9% vs. last week's numbers. Gasoline production decreased last week averaging 8.9 million barrels per day while distillate fuel production decreased, averaging 4.3 million barrels per day.

Utilization rates for the last week were as follows: East Coast: 78.6%, Midwest: 94.0%, Gulf Coast: 85.1%, Rocky Mountain: 82.6%, West Coast: 70.5%. These percentages show how much of a region's overall capacity were used to refine oil. It is important to note these percentages, because the lower the utilization percent, the lower output, which has a direct impact on local gasoline prices. If refiners in your region have low output, your more likely to see prices rise.

OVERALL SUPPLY:Total oil stocks in the United States are up 32.5 million barrels (3.1%) over last year and stand at 1.0699 billion barrels (excluding the Strategic Petroleum Reserve).

IMPORTS/EXPORTS:The U.S. imported 885,000 barrels per day of gasoline and 224,000bpd of distillate fuels. However, during the same time frame, the U.S. exported 380,000bpd of gasoline and 956,000bpd of distillates. In total, U.S. refineries exported 2.7 million barrels per DAY of oil and products! (These are four week rolling averages)

that whole story about winter/summer fuel is a big bunch of baloney. Doesn't happen but in the US and (not certain w/out researching) possibly in Canada. Haven't seen it anywhere else. IMNSHO it's a way for Pig Oil to make more money... you know, drive the summer prices up by Memorial Day (which is a holiday not celebrated elsewhere around the globe, so there's not fixed date why prices should go up).